Morrice at Perry – – Girls Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – December 2, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft
Tonight, the Morrice Orioles will visit the Perry Ramblers for the first game of the girls’ basketball season!
Morrice Coach Steve Goodine provided me with some background about his Oriole players. Tonight, because of an injury and an illness, the Orioles will only have five players available for the game, so the players will have to be quite durable and stay out of serious foul trouble. Payton Goodine is a strong all-around basketball player who competes on defense anywhere on the court and rebounds well. On offense, she is a strong three point shooter, ball handler and passer.
Alexa Rose is a tough interior defender who rebounds well. Addie Balsley brings determined perimeter defense to the Orioles. Shelby Austin and Triniti Chunko are the other Morrice players who will have to play the entire game tonight.
Perry Coach Greg Hallock provided me with this information about his Ramblers.
Abigail Cochrane is a high energy player, who defends really well and is a good scorer. She gets a lot of points off turnovers, but is also adept at driving to the basket and is a threat from the three point line. Addyson Lampron runs the point for the Ramblers; she is a fierce defender who runs the offense well. Ruby Simon is capable of scoring on drives to the basket or hitting shots from the three point line.
Teagan Hallock is a smart player who passes and shoots well. Sara Austing is athletic and long; this presents challenges for opposing offenses. Maddie Kloeckner has a nice shot. Ava O’Connor is a quick player who is a tough defender; she also provides the Ramblers with solid shooting. Hannah Kelly is a versatile player who can defend the wing or the interior.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the aging eyes of a Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play basketball back in the days of yore when he was considered to be “young!” Your Bleacher Denizen showed some promise as a fast break scorer, but everything fell apart when the basketball “Powers That Be” ordered me to stop using the jet pack I used to beat opponents down the court. Alas! After my scoring average shrunk to almost nothing, so did my playing time.
Perry wins the opening tap. The Ramblers lose a pass out of bounds. Abigail Cochrane knocks the Morrice inbound pass out of bounds; the Orioles retain possession. Morrice travels with the basketball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting. I don’t suppose that traveling without the basketball would be terribly newsworthy.) Perry misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Ruby Simon grabs the offensive rebound for the Ramblers.
Perry misfires on a triple try from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice gets the ball, but only temporarily as Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for Perry. Abigail Cochran drives and hits an eight foot banked shot from the side of the lane to give her Ramblers the first two points of the evening. Payton Goodine hits a fast break layup for Morrice to tie the game at 2-2.
Alexa Rose steals the ball for the Orioles. Teagen Hallock knocks an Oriole pass out of bounds; Morrice retains possession. Morrice misses a ten foot banked shot from the side of the lane. Perry misses a threeball from the side. Morrice misses an eight foot baseline jumper off the dribble. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Orioles get the ball back. Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for the Ramblers. Perry misses a layup, but they get the offensive rebound. Ruby Simon is fouled on a shot and hits two free throws to give Perry a 4-2 lead with 4:48 left in the first quarter.
Morrice beats the Perry press, but travels while shooting a layup. Alexa Rose blocks a Perry shot. The Ramblers recover the loose ball; Perry misses a layup. Payton Goodine dives and saves the ball to prevent an Oriole turnover. Addyson Lampron steals the ball for the Ramblers and passes to Abigail Cochrane, who hits a layup to push the Perry lead to 6-2.
Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for Perry. Alexa Rose dives and ties the ball up for Morrice. The Possession Arrow was serving tea and crumpets to its wealthy donors and misses the play; the ball is awarded to Perry. Addyson Lampron hits a twelve foot jumper off the dribble from the baseline for Perry. Morrice misses a jump shot. Addyson Lampron passes to Abigail Cochrane, who hits a three point shot from the side to boost the Perry lead to 11-2.
Morrice misfires on a triple try from the corner. Ava O’Connor hits a fast break layup for Perry. Sara Austing ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow and its wealthy donors choose not to pay attention to the game and award the ball to Morrice. Addie Balsley passes to Payton Goodine, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline to trim the Rambler lead to 11-4.
Perry misses a three point shot from the wing. Ava O’Connor gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a three pointer from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Ramblers get the ball back. Perry misses a jump shot from the free throw elbow. Ruby Simon hits a putback to give Perry a 15-4 lead.
Morrice turns the ball over. Perry misses a fifteen foot jumper from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice takes possession. Morrice misfires on a triple try from the top of the key. Ruby Simon is fouled on an eight foot jumper off the dribble in the lane. She makes one of her two free throws with 18.2 seconds left in the first quarter. Morrice misses a three point shot from the side.
After one quarter, Perry has a 16-4 lead.
Morrice inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. The Orioles miss a three point shot from the side. Abigail Cochrane hits a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side for Perry. Abigail Cochrane knocks the ball away from Morrice and Addyson Lampron picks it for Perry. Perry throws a pass out of bounds. Morrice misses a layup, but Payton Goodine pulls down the offensive rebound. Perry blocks a Morrice shot. Payton Goodine recovers the ball and sinks a threeball from the side to shave the Perry lead to 18-7.
Perry misses a reverse layup. Sara Austing gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a layup. Morrice misses a jumper off the dribble from the free throw line. Payton Goodine taps the ball away from Perry. Sara Austing dives, saves the ball for Perry and calls time out to preserve the Rambler possession. Alexa Rose deflects a Perry pass, but the Ramblers recover. Perry misses a layup. Addyson Lampron steals the ball for Perry and passes to Abigail Cochrane, who hits a layup to give Perry a 20-7 lead.
Morrice loses the ball out of bounds. Maddison Kloeckner passes to Abigail Cochrane, who flings in a threeball from the corner for Perry. Alexa Rose passes to Shelby Austin, who hits a layup for Morrice. Abigail Cochrane hits another three pointer from the corner for Perry to give the Ramblers a 26-9 lead.
Morrice misses a three point shot from the wing. Payton Goodine hits a putback for Morrice. Perry loses the ball on an over and back violation. Morrice misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Payton Goodine ties up the ball; the Possession Arrow and its cabal of wealthy donors decides to give the ball back to Perry just because they can.
Perry misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Morrice misses a twelve foot runner from the baseline. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Ramblers take possession. Alexa Rose blocks a Perry jumper from the free throw line. Morrice misses a layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice gets the ball back. Abigail Cochrane steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give Perry a 28-11 lead.
Addie Balsley hits a fifteen foot jumper off the dribble from the side for Morrice. Alexa Rose and Payton Goodine tie up the ball. This time, the Possession Arrow and the donors look up from their gala event and award the ball to Morrice. The Orioles miss a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side. Perry misses a half court heave as the halftime buzzer makes its presence known.
Perry has a 28-13 lead at halftime.
Payton Goodine has 9 points at halftime to lead the Morrice scoring.
Abigail Cochrane has 19 points and Ruby Simon has 5 points for Perry.
After your Bleacher Denizen got a nice hot dog from the Perry concession stand (along with a water), it was time to start the second half. Perry had the ball to open the third quarter.
Addie Balsley knocks the ball away from Perry and Payton Goodine picks it up for Morrice. Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for Perry. The Ramblers miss a fast break layup. Abigail Cochrane knocks the ball away from Morrice and Addyson Lampron picks it up for Perry. Addyson Lampron hits a layup for the Ramblers. Addyson Lampron steals the ball for Perry. The Ramblers miss a fast break layup, but Abigail Cochrane hits a putback to boost her Ramblers to a 34-13 lead.
Teagen Hallock and Abigail Cochrane team up for Perry to tie up the ball. The Possession Arrow and its wealthy donors are cleaning up spilled caviar and miss the play. The ball is awarded to Morrice. The Orioles miss a threeball from the corner. Ruby Simon drives and hits a layup for Perry and the Ramblers have a 36-13 lead.
Morrice misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Payton Goodine ties up the rebound. The Possession Arrow and its donors are dry cleaning the tablecloth because of the spilled caviar; the ball is awarded to Perry. Perry misses a ten footer off the dribble from the baseline. Hannah Kelly steals the ball for the Ramblers. Addie Balsley blocks a Perry layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Perry gets it back. Alexa Rose blocks a Perry layup. Payton Goodine hits a twelve footer off the dribble in the lane to trim the Perry lead to 36-15.
Addie Balsley knocks the ball out of bounds; Perry retains possession. Perry misses a ten footer off the dribble from the side of the lane. Morrice misses a threeball from the side. Perry reciprocates and misses a threeball from the side. Payton Goodine goes coast to coast and hits a layup for Morrice. Addyson Lampron hits an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline to elevate Perry to a 38-17 lead.
Morrice misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Perry misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline and fouls on the rebound. Payton Goodine passes to Alexa Rose, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of her two free throws for Morrice. With 1:42 remaining in quarter number three, Perry has a 38-18 lead.
Payton Goodine steals the ball for the Orioles. Morrice misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Addie Balsley steals the ball for the Orioles and hits a fast break layup. Teagen Hallock hits a ten foot banked shot off the dribble in the lane for Perry. Addyson Lampron hits a fast break layup for Perry. She is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw (with 4.7 seconds to play in the quarter.) Addie Balsley hits a fast break layup to beat the third quarter buzzer.
After three quarters, Perry holds a 42-22 lead.
Morrice inbounds the ball to get the final quarter underway. The Orioles miss an eighteen foot shot from the baseline. The Ramblers miss a three pointer from the side. Morrice reciprocates and misses a three pointer from the side. Alexa Rose pulls down the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a layup. Alexa Rose runs down the long offensive rebound and passes to Payton Goodine, who sinks a threeball from the side and is fouled. She misses her free throw, but gets the long offensive rebound and drains a threeball from the top of the key to chop the Perry lead to 42-28.
Perry throws a pass out of bounds. Abigail Cochrane gets her hand on an Oriole pass, but Morrice recovers. Morrice misfires on a threeball from the top of the key. Perry misses a reverse layup. Abigail Cochrane ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow and its cleanup crew have been watching the game and decide to award the ball to Perry. Abigail Cochrane passes to Teagan Hallock, who drives and hits a layup to give Perry a 44-28 lead.
Morrice throws a pass out of bounds. Alexa Rose knocks the ball out of bounds; Perry retains possession. Perry misses a six foot shot from the side of the lane. Ruby Simon steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for the Ramblers. Payton Goodine passes to Alexa Rose, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws for Morrice. With 4:21 remaining in the game, Perry holds a 46-30 lead.
Payton Goodine’s tough defense forces a Perry traveling violation. Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for Perry and hits a fast break layup. Morrice misses a three pointer from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Perry gets the ball. Perry misses a three pointer from the wing. Payton Goodine is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to shave the Perry lead to 48-31 with 2:57 left on the clock.
Alexa Rose knocks the ball away from the Ramblers, but Perry recovers. Alexa Rose blocks a Rambler layup, but Perry recovers. Perry misses a jump shot. Sara Austing hits a putback for the Ramblers. Ava O’Connor knocks the ball away from Morrice and Abigail Cochrane picks it up; she hits a fast break layup for Perry. Payton Goodine hits a sixteen footer off the dribble from the wing to trim the Perry lead to 52-33.
Perry misses a three pointer from the side. Ava Positano gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry turns the ball over. Addie Balsley passes to Payton Goodine, who hits a layup for Morrice. Perry loses the ball out of bounds. Ava Positano blocks a Morrice layup; the ball goes out of bounds and the Orioles retain possession. Addyson Lampron steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to boost Perry to a 54-35 lead.
Morrice misses a twelve foot shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and belongs to Perry. Perry dribbles out the clock.
Perry wins this non-league matchup by the final score of 54-35. Kudos to Morrice’s “iron five” who all had to play the entire game and kept the defensive intensity up to the end.
Payton Goodine led the Morrice scoring with 24 points. Addie Balsley contributed 6 points. Alexa Rose tossed in 3 points and Shelby Austin tallied 2 points.
Perry’s Abigail Cochran led all scorers with 25 points. Ruby Simon contributed 11 points and Addyson Lampron chipped in with 10 points. Teagen Hallock scored 4 points. Ava O’Connor and Sara Austing each added 2 points.
Perry also hosted a boys’ game with Morrice that immediately followed this game. Here is a link to the play by play of the boys’ game!!